Fighting the Surge

Political soapbox post below.....you've been warned.....


Long ago my parents taught me about integrity and being honest. I know I've stumbled throughout life and I've paid the consequences. However, I'm just a middle manager in a nation-wide corporation. I'm not President of the United States. Last year, I sat and watched presidential hopefuls claim up and down that the surge in Iraq was the absolute wrong action to take. They fought it as hard as they could. Well, I came across this YouTube clip that is a compilation of speeches given by our former President, our current President (and then, Presidential candidate) and our current Vice President (and then, Presidential candidate).

For your viewing pleasure:

Say What You Will....

From the mind of Michael Ramirez, Editorial Cartoonist for Investor's Business Daily.

A pig is a pig whether you take it into town, or to the trough...

I guess the reason it didn't work last year was that there wasn't enough money in it. Yeah, that's it.

What's the old rambling about repeating something over and over again, hoping for different results?

Oh yeah, now I remember.....insanity.

President Bush

Never before in this modern era has a President been challenged as much as you have. I want to thank you for keeping us safe for the past eight years. I have come close to feeling as safe as I did on 9/10/01...not because I've forgotten, but because through the strength of your actions and courage, you have kept me safe, often at the expense of your own reputation.

Thank you for keeping my wife, my family, my friends and neighbors safe under your watch. Please relax and enjoy the private life. If anyone deserves it, it's you and Laura.

President Roosevelt said it best...

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat -
Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

President Obama

Congratulations.

You have forever left your mark in history as our next President. Furthermore, you have also accomplished what no other man in any modern country has done; won the Presidency as a man of color.

I will admit I didn't vote for you and, if given the chance, would not vote for you again. I have too much pride and respect for what makes this country great. The personal freedoms we enjoy are second to none. But, with that freedom comes responsibility. Not from the government, but from the individual. I fear both of these qualities will be greatly diminished under your leadership. You were quoted recently saying "Only Government can get us out of this", when giving a press conference regarding our economy. I don't know if you'll change this country or not, but I'm afraid we're in for four years that will yield no noticeable improvements.

Your job's a tough one. However, you knew exactly what you were getting into. You knew you were being handed a turd and polishing cloth. You ran anyway. No excuses going forward.

You are my President for the next 1400+ days. When you do well, I'll recognize it. "Good for him. He got this one", I'll tell people. When you are wrong, I will voice my disagreement. However, I will not resort to the antics displayed by the left for nearly the last decade. I will not hold you responsible for every problem that exists in the world and I will not stomp my feet and hold my breath, demanding your resignation and impeachment every time you do something I don't like.

You've been handed the keys to the greatest nation in the world, maybe in history.

Don't drive it like a rental.

Obama the next Reagan??

Bet you will never find this in any major media outlet:

---------------------------------------------------------------

New Poll: Reagan, FDR Lead Presidential Role Models
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

When American voters were asked which past President of the United States they believe Barack Obama should model his new presidency after, they did not pick Abraham Lincoln or John F. Kennedy, or even George Washington as their top choice. They picked Ronald Reagan.

According to a nationwide survey conducted by Clarus Research Group this past week, Reagan was the top choice among all voters with 26 percent, followed by Franklin Roosevelt with 18%, Kennedy with 17% and Lincoln with 13%.

"Reagan was the overwhelming favorite among Republican voters," said Dr. Ron Faucheux, President of Clarus.

"He received 59 percent as the President GOP voters want Obama to emulate. Nobody else came close."

"Democrats scattered their choices more," Faucheux noted. "FDR was their top pick at 27 percent and was closely followed by Kennedy, with 26 percent. Lincoln, a Republican, ranked third among Democrats."

Other findings:

• Independents favored Reagan, followed by FDR, Lincoln and Kennedy.
• Younger voters (under 30) selected JFK as their favorite. Reagan and Lincoln followed.
• Older voters (over 65) put Roosevelt first. Reagan was second.
• White voters picked Reagan as their top choice with FDR in second place.
• African American voters favored Kennedy by a wide margin. Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, came in second.
• Home regions of past Presidents can still have political impact. Reagan, from California, did the best in the West (30 percent) and the worst in the Northeast (22 percent). FDR, a New Yorker, scored highest in the Northeast (26 percent) and lowest in the Midwest (15 percent).
• Reagan dominated small town and rural America, winning 31 percent.
• Among urban voters, FDR led with 23 percent.
• Reagan was also favored among suburbanites, capturing 28 percent.
• Reagan won high-income voters (over $100,000 a year) with 33 percent
  followed by FDR with 21 percent. JFK and Reagan, at 21 percent, tied among voters with incomes under $50,000 a year.
• Education was a factor in some cases. FDR received 14 percent among
  voters without a college degree but 25 percent among those with graduate degrees. Kennedy won 27 percent of voters with high school educations and 14 percent among college graduates.

Presidents among the Founding Fathers

• George Washington and Thomas Jefferson received 4 and 3 percent, respectively.
• Cold War Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower also received 4 and 3 percent among all voters.
• Theodore Roosevelt, a progressive Republican, captured 4 percent.
• The Hero of the Battle of New Orleans, Democrat Andrew Jackson, received 1 percent.

Inauguration Day

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.

So, as we begin, let us take inventory. We are a nation that has a government - not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the earth. Our government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government, which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.

We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look. You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates. Others, a handful in number, produce enough food to feed all of us and then the world beyond. You meet heroes across a counter, and they're on both sides of that counter. There are entrepreneurs with faith in themselves and faith in an idea who create new jobs, new wealth and opportunity. They're individuals and families whose taxes support the government and whose voluntary gifts support church, charity, culture, art, and education. Their patriotism is quiet, but deep. Their values sustain our national life.


"They" are you.

I wonder if we'll ever hear a speech like this again...

Thought for the Day

Kick this around in your cranium today.....


President-elect Obama goes on record during the primaries saying Senator Clinton's suggested foreign policy experience equates to nothing more than tea parties with foreign dignitaries.

Senator Clinton's rebuttal, in part, states Obama is weak and is not ready to be Commander in Chief.

Now we have Barack Obama as our next Commander in Chief and, gee whiz, Senator Clinton is the top pick for Secretary of State.

One of the obvious questions to President-elect Obama that came up in a round of exchanges with reporters yesterday:

"You talked about the importance just now of having different voices and robust debate within your administration, but again going back to the campaign, you were asked and talked about the qualifications of the -- now your nominee for secretary of state and you belittled her travels around the world, equated it to having teas with foreign leaders. And your new White House counsel said her resume was grossly exaggerated when it came to foreign policy. I'm wondering if you can talk about the evolution of your views of her credentials since the spring?"

Our Commander's response...(sigh)

"I think this is fun for the press to try to stir up whatever quotes were generated during the course of the campaign. No, I understand, and you're having fun."

Translated:

How darest thou insult thee with such pithy inquisitions. As ruler, I chooseth not to answer thine inquiry. Instead, I shalt find jest and amusement in belittling thee.

Guess he really didn't mean what he said time and time again during the primaries. I wonder if there was anything else he really didn't mean...


Now you just go and have yourself a terrific day!



The thoughts and ideas expressed in this blog posting are in no way consistent with the thoughts and ideas expressed by Barack Obama or the Democrat party. Therefore, you have been notified that any thoughts and ideas expressed in this blog posting are the equivalent of hate speech as defined by any mainstream media news outlet. Furthermore, aforementioned thoughts and ideas may cause offense to Democrats, liberals, non-achievers, those afflicted with wealth-envy, and any and all followers of the "Chosen One"...

From the Soapbox

WAKE UP!

It's time to LEARN, or at least Re-Educate Yourself!

So it’s official. One of the most left-leaning candidates in the history of the United States has emerged victorious. Around the country people are rejoicing that “change” will sweep across the land and the “evil, greedy” rich will get there comeuppance and justice will prevail! Sounds pretty good, huh?

FAIRNESS

These are the newest catch-words and they are gaining momentum

EQUALITY

POP QUIZ!

To which brand of government or type of society would you attach “equality”?

If you guessed Egalitarianism (triple word score in Scrabble!) then you are correct!!

Egalitarianism is “a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic rights and privileges” and “a social philosophy advocating the removal of inequalities among people.”

Did you see that?

Removal of inequalities, or, in other words, equality of results.

Can anyone tell me which society/government has “equality of results” as one of its prime objectives?

Did I hear socialism from the back of the blog?

Correct again!!

Is that what people really want? Individuality is naturally human. Each and every one of us has different wants and needs. These wants and needs are expressed through jobs, hobbies, clothes, cars, lifestyles, etc. What happens when you apply equality across individuality? Suffocating at best. Think of a non-necessity purchase you made recently. How many different brands, models, colors, etc did you have to choose from??

History has shown that “equality of results” is impractical. It has failed to raise the standards of those it intended to benefit. Instead, it has only lowered them.

Go plant you a row or two of “equality” in your backyard.

You’ll have a bumper crop of poverty and famine.

Egalitarianism is an attempt at utopia. In their mad dash to create equality in results, Egalitarians often use the power of the government to pass laws that conflict with the natural laws of economics and individual expression. This level of belief is the real enemy of the individual and freedom. To reach "equality of results" individual wants and needs have to be ignored, along with sacrificing one's self-determination. The only equality we need is the freedom for each person to live their life as they choose.

Capitalism is the uneven distribution of wealth

Socialism is the even distribution of poverty

Ok, let’s take a break and do a little fairness role-playing.

Let’s base our exercise on imputed income:

Dan and Barbara have owned their home for several years. They enjoy a modest mortgage payment of $900 a month. They live in a neighborhood where several houses are available for rent. Average rental price, per month, is $2000. The powers that be (yeah, the IRS) come and tell you that since you are living in your home for less than your neighbors, that difference is considered income and you should pay income taxes on it, because it's not fair that your neighbors pay more. Add it up. That’s an additional $13,200 a year. Would that be enough to push you into a higher tax bracket?? Some of you are saying, “This could never happen”. Maybe you’re right, but this idea is not an old one. The Clinton administration was working on the concept of imputed income when the Republicans took over.

I don’t think the next four years are going to be as bad as some are making it out to be. With the economy being in such dire straits the Obama administration, along with Congress, are not going to have a lot of wiggle room to bring in sweeping changes and reform. President-elect Obama was voted in largely because of his “blank slate” platform and good intentions. Good intentions do not always guarantee good results. Now, I’m not old enough to remember this personally, but those of you out there who are wiser than me will remember back in the 70’s someone who was voted in on good intentions and yielded poor results.

Reality has a way of grounding lofty idealists. Think of it as someone running through the forest with their head in the clouds, not seeing the fallen trees of reality ahead of them.

Those that are not “drunk on the Kool-Aid” will see the fallacies and stumblings of any administration while those “blinded by the light” will see their leader as being “ham stringed” by the opposing party who “refuses” to work with him/her.

In closing I leave you with a quote from Barry Goldwater:

“A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all way.”

Class dismissed…

The thoughts and ideas expressed in this blog posting are in no way consistent with the thoughts and ideas expressed by Barack Obama or the Democrat party. Therefore, you have been notified that any thoughts and ideas expressed in this blog posting are the equivalent of hate speech as defined by any mainstream media news outlet. Furthermore, aforementioned thoughts and ideas may cause offense to Democrats, liberals,non-achievers, those afflicted with wealth-envy, and any and all followers of the "Chosen One"...

TIME TO VOTE!!

If you're waiting until tomorrow, I hope you brought comfortable shoes!!

Is it just coincidence the street sign suggests not going left??????

TRICK OR TREAT!??!??!